Overlooked in the Uptown baseball stadium give-away fest at the Mecklenburg County Commissioners meeting the other night was an update on how the National Whitewater Center give-away fest was doing.
Not so good.
The Rhino Times reports — no one else seems to care how the county spends your money — that the cost of the giant log-flume ride has jumped 18 percent, from $32 million to $38 million. The original budget was $25 million, meaning the cost of the park has increased by more than 50 percent in just two years.
The county, the city of Charlotte and several other local governments have guaranteed the loans the Center’s non-profit took out to build the park. As a result, the public is ultimately on the hook for any revenue short-fall the Center might have in meeting its debt payments. Right now, the county is hooked for $664,000 — possibly more, the Times notes.
It all depends on how many people are willing to spend $200 for a six-person log-flume ride.
Line forms over there.
